We give native species trees to regenerate a degraded rainforest.

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Look Who’s Lurking at the Bottom of Your Coffee Cup…

I recently dove into the world of coffee to see what’s going on in the supply chain, since our rainforest was originally cut down for coffee plantations.

Traveling much of the year to tell our story, Starbucks is often my office, and I’ve been appreciative of happy baristas (who have decent benefits) who serve me a uniformly good Americano. But one day I picked up a notification about their environmental partner, Conservation International and my heart sunk below my muddy boots. From my last post you can see that CI is also partnered with Monsanto, and I have witnessed and heard stories of the distress that has caused for poor rural communities. Among other things, they plant genetically engineered forests as part of their “Forest Mosaic” program, using toxic chemicals that flow into the water system and soil, changing the landscape for eons in ways more devastating than the original slash and burn farming. That, and bio-piracy for their allies…

I actually had the opportunity to meet and speak with Starbucks’ Director of Environmental Impact at a conference this week, and invited him to come see what the impact of their partnership is, in Brazil. Perhaps they just didn’t know what their partners were really doing…

So I asked my Facebook Friends “Does it matter to you, if a business you may often buy from, is partnered with an NGO who is actively partnered with Monsanto?”

Tax-deductible DONATIONS keep us going – click on an image below to help us grow!

AFFORESTATION TRAINING

Help sponsor the first Brazilian training of a new generation of environmental entrepreneurs in the Miyawaki method of Afforestation, as recommended by Project Drawdown. We’re bringing Shubhendu Sharma from India to teach the method of his mentor, Dr. Akira Miyawaki. This is a replicatable, organic system of intensive soil preparation, planting of successional native species trees in urban areas, that has been tested globally for more than 40 years. And, we’ll offer scholarships to women who want to learn this as a trade.

NATIVE SPECIES TREES – $25

Help sponsor the gift of trees for an urban food forest. We’ll be planting 300 native species trees in each plot, with an emphasis on tropical staple tree crops. These will include Coconut, Jackfruit, Moringa, Avocado, Mango, Papaya, Pitanga, Aurocaria, Fruita de Conde, Jaibuticaba, Banana, Passionflower, Pineapple and many others! This includes the cost of organic soil amendments, digging equipment, mulch and 2 years of maintenance after plantings. Since there's such a diversity of trees being planted, individual costs vary, so this is a fund toward the whole forest plot, not the cost for one tree.

NATIVE TREE SEEDS – $50

Help sponsor the gift of native species tree seeds from this endangered rainforest. We support back country sustainable seed harvesters who supply their local seed banks and nurseries. These are large bags of seeds, not small packets. The size of the bag depends upon the type of seed, but each one holds approximately 1,000 seeds. This is the way we protect biodiversity.